Recently (January
2013), Ms. Judith Navarrete of Los Angeles, a friend of Mary's Touch By
Mail,made a pilgrimage to
the Church-approved shrine of Our Lady of Las Lajas in Colombia where thefirst miracle occurred in
1754. Judy was overwhelmingly impressed by
the supernatural nature of theimages
that she saw there and their significance for our current age when
the decisive battle betweenOur
Lady and Satan is being waged and is aproaching its dramatic
conclusion.

Judy saw in the
cave surrounded by a beautiful basilica built in the 1950s the
miraculous images ofOur
Lady with the Baby Jesus and also St. Dominic of Guzman receiving a rosary
from Our Lady and St. Francis of Assisi receiving a cord from the
Baby Jesus. The scientific examination of these images bythe
German geologists found that these images were not painted with any
paint, dye, or other pigment but that thecolors
were the colors of the rock itself, which penetrated into the rock up to
several feet. Theseimages,
so amazingly beautiful and stable with no changes for the past 260 years
since 1754 canonly be the
products of the Divine Hands.

In the 13th
Century, Our Lord came to St. Dominic and St. Francis and asked them
to save His Churchfrom
deterioration caused by the unfaithfulness and
secularization of many of the clergy and people.Now, through
the images on the wall in a cave in Las Lajas, God is asking each of
all the members of theChurch
beginning with the Holy Father, to restore the health and vigor of
His Church, promising the unfailingsupernatural
help from Himself through the Blessed Mother.

The image of Our
Lady in Las Lajas looks so closely identical to the image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe.Las Lajas (which
began in 1754) must be the continuation of Guadalupe (which had begun
in 1531). Then,the
Blessed Mother's efforts have continued through Paris (1830), LaSalette
(1846), Lourdes (1858), Fatima
(1917), and now Naju (which began in 1985). In Naju, Our Lord
and the Blessed Mother performedthe
Eucharistic miracles 33 times and countless other miracles as
the heavenly assurance that themessages
through Julia Kim in Naju are authentic and said in Their messages
that we are in the very age when the Triumph of the Immaculate
Heart of the Blessed Mother will be accomplished overcoming themost violent and tenacious
attacks and interferences by Satan and his forces. The Blessed
Mother repeatedlyasked us,
"As I am the helper for Jesus, you
should be the helpers for me."

The merciful predilection of the Mother of God for Latin
America is the reward she has given for the heroic faith formed from the
Iberian Peninsula during the 800 years' struggle against the invading
Moors and found in the Latin American peoples' souls in which Divine
Providence willed to deposit it.

From Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, no nation has failed to
receive special favors from Our Lady. However, her interventions did not
occur in just any manner. She presented herself with unheard of
magnificence and splendor, making it clear that she came to preside over
Latin America from on high.

Our Lady of Las Lajas

The History of a Predilection

As an example of this magnificence, consider how the Most
Holy Virgin has stamped her image on the imposing cliffs of the Guaitara
Canyon, Colombia, thereby becoming Queen of the souls in that region and
in all surrounding lands.

In the year 1754, Maria Mueses de Qui–ones, an Indian
woman from Colombia, was going from her hometown of Potosi to the village
of Ipiales when she was caught in a great storm. At a place called Las
Lajas (the Rock Slabs), she sought refuge in a grotto. However, she was
anxious since there was a popular legend that said the devil lived in the
grotto. With trepidation, she entered the darkness of the grotto, invoking
the Virgin of the Rosary. Suddenly, she felt someone tapping at her back,
as though calling her. Frightened, she fled back into the storm.

A few days later, returning by the same route, she once
again reached the cliffs of Las Lajas, carrying on her back her little
daughter Rosa, who was a deaf-mute since birth. Being tired and wanting to
rest, Maria Mueses de Qui–ones sat down to rest timidly on a stone near
the grotto. Then the first miracle occurred. Her deaf-mute child suddenly
spoke, "Mommy, look at the mestiza who has detached herself from the rock
with a little boy in her arms and two little mestizos at her side!" With
this exclamation, Rosa slid off her mother's back to climb up the grotto's
stones. Struck with terror, Maria took her daughter and fled from the
mysterious place.

There was general bewilderment among Maria's friends and
acquaintances in Potosi when she told them what had happened. Thirsting
for the supernatural, the Indians listened to her, asked her many
questions, and commented among themselves about the singular event, but
took no further action.

In the meantime, Rosa disappeared, causing her mother
great concern. Maria searched to no avail, until she remembered the
episode at the grotto, and returned there to look for Rosa. She found her
daughter kneeling before a splendid woman and playing affectionately with
a child who had come down from his mother's arms. Knowing she beheld the
Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son Jesus, Maria fell to her knees before this
beautiful spectacle, and she was no longer afraid.

TThe
image of Our Lady of Las Lajas with the Child Jesus was miraculously
imprinted on the rock along with the images of Saint Dominic, left, and
Saint Francis of Assisi, right.

Shortly thereafter, Our Lady performed a spectacular
miracle that prompted the news of the marvelous presence to spread
throughout lands near the rocky banks of the Guaitara River.

The steep mountainside did not stop Our Lady's
devotees from erecting the intricate shrine of stone in her honor.

Unexpectedly, Rosa sickened and died. Her grieving mother
carried her body in her arms to the grotto in order to beg the Virgin for
help. Reminding the Virgin of Rosa's solicitude in bringing her candles
and flowers, she begged Our Lady to bring her back to life. In answer to
her prayers, the Queen of Heaven and Earth performed the miracle of the
child's resurrection. Maria told her employers in Ipiales about the
extraordinary event.

Moved by the news, they went with priests, distinguished
persons and many local people to the apparition's site. It was then that
all saw stamped on the rock face a magnificent image of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, holding her Infant Son, with Saints Dominic and Francis kneeling at
their feet. The Virgin extended a Rosary to Saint Dominic and the Infant a
Franciscan cord to Saint Francis.

Today, an enormous quantity of mementos and tokens of
thanksgiving attest to the devotion and gratitude of the Colombian people
since the time of the apparition.

Historical and Scientific Aspects of
the Image of Las Lajas

An interesting aspect of the image is the presence of
Saint Dominic de Guzman and Saint Francis of Assisi, the founders of the
two orders that first evangelized Colombia and to whom Colombians have
always had a special devotion.

The image of Our Lady of Las Lajas, as that of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, has spanned the centuries without losing its brilliance. In the
case of Las Lajas, the Divine Painter used a fade-proof method. After
German geologists bored core samples from several spots in the image, they
determined there was no paint, no dye, or any other pigment on the surface
of the rock; the colors are the colors of the rock itself, and they
penetrate into the rock evenly for several feet!

In 1952, Pius XII granted a canonical crowning of Our Lady
of Las Lajas, and in 1954, the gothic church erected to house the image
was dedicated as a minor basilica, with the presence of the entire
Colombian Episcopate.

In the Eyes of the Queen, the True and
Authentic Latin America

In the course of the two thousand years in which the
Church has spread throughout the world, artists have frequently shaped Our
Lady's physical aspect according to the type of women of their time and
region. This has happened in paintings, sculpture, stained-glass windows,
and other media. The most ancient statues of her attest to this fact. In
the remote days of the Church, statues of Mary Most Holy depicted her with
a Mediterranean physical aspect. As the Faith spread among the Nordic
people, blond and blue-eyed representations of Our Lady appeared.

An aerial view of the shrine and grotto of Our Lady
of Las Lajas

The modeling of images according to the regional feminine
physical aspect is agreeable to Our Lady. This is proved by the fact when
she impresses her image on some object in order to perpetuate the memory
of an apparition or when she appears to a seer who then later describes
her to an artist who will interpret the seer's description into a painting
or sculpture. In Mexico, for example, Our Lady of Guadalupe stamped her
image with Mexican physiognomies on Juan Diego's serape, where she can be
seen standing on the moon and obscuring the sun that is behind her. The
Aztecs worshiped the sun and the moon as gods, and the sight of this
powerful lady overcoming their gods was the catalyst in the Mexican
Indians' conversion. In Colombia, God performed the prodigy of printing
Our Lady of Las Lajas on a rock. In view of these two very short examples,
who can deny the deeply religious atmosphere characteristic of images
painted by the Angels?

As limited as one's sense of observation may be, one
cannot fail to exclaim upon seeing her, "Look how Latin American she is!"
Something very essential, a reflection of the qualities and virtues of the
Latin American people, is expressed in Our Lady of Las Lajas.

But what does her physical aspect tell us? We find a great
personality, the profound and intelligent gaze of a meditating and
recollected person. She has an extraordinary stability and solidity, a
continuity of will and temperament. Nothing shakes or agitates her. There
is no arrogance or ostentation, but rather the dominion of one who is
accustomed to having her will obeyed. She could not have a better veil
than her long, abundant, beautiful hair. The color and richness of her
dress are those of a Queen. She is extremely kind and motherly. How good
and safe the Child Jesus feels in her arms! What throne could be more
worthy of Him? He is almost at play, with the liberty of a child.

It is curious to note the relationship between Mother and
Son. Frequently their images present them gazing at each other, but not in
Las Lajas. They are so accustomed to being together that they have no need
to look at each other in order to sustain their mutual attention. She
directs her eyes toward the Latin American people, heeding their
supplications, orienting and commanding them. Meanwhile, the Child Jesus
enters the intimacy of those who arrive at the Queen's feetÑa Queen who
displays in her gaze a kindness so exalted that she moves us to trust her
entirely.